Articles Tagged ‘school - Brake the road safety charity’

Below is a template road safety policy that schools and nurseries can use and adapt according to your needs. It provides a bedrock on which you can build a range of road safety initiatives to help pupils and others in your community to be safe. Use our guide to teaching road safety to develop your initiatives.

OUR SCHOOL/NURSERY ROAD SAFETY POLICY

The safety of our children will always come first. Our most important priority is to prevent the death or injury of a child while in our care.

If out and about with pupils on foot, we will always prioritise walking safely, in line with the latest safety advice.

If transporting pupils by vehicle, we will always prioritise doing so safely, in line with the latest safety advice.

We will teach road safety within the classroom, integrating into project work in a range of curriculum lessons as well as teaching separately in safety and citizenship lessons, and reviewing the amount and quality annually.

(For establishments with available safe road environments.) We will teach practical pedestrian and cycle training at the roadside in line with best practice advice.

We will aim to improve the safety and environmental standards of transport to and from our premises by having a School Travel Plan that aims to reduce use of cars and improve the safety of children on foot or bikes and that we implement and update annually.

Engaged in the right way, children and young people can really enjoy studying and campaigning for road safety because it is an issue they can understand and that affects them. And teaching road safety is a great way for you to reach goals for citizenship, health and safety and across the curriculum. This page provides an introduction to teaching road safety effectively and why it is such an important topic to teach.

Sensitivity issues Before teaching road safety, check whether any children have been bereaved by, or hurt in, or witnessed a serious a road crash, and be sensitive to their needs. Talk to them and their carers about whether they wish to be excluded from classroom lessons that discuss death or injury. Brake has developed resources for children bereaved by road crashes and their carers. Call our help line 0845 603 8570 to obtain these resources.

Why road safety is an important teaching topicEvery death of a child is devastating for a nursery, school or college. You can play a vital role in protecting children by incorporating road safety into lessons and engaging in activities to get life-saving messages across to pupils, parents and throughout the local community. You also have a responsibility to ensure high standards of road safety when on trips away from your school on foot or by vehicle. You are also at the heart of a community and therefore well placed to work with local government to implement necessary road safety engineering improvements, such as crossings or lower speed limits, on local roads.

Road safety also falls within curriculum requirements. It appears in different parts of the curriculum in different parts of Britain. In England, for example, road safety education is part of the statory frameworks for PSHE and citizenship at key stages 1 and 2. It also can be linked to the wider curriculum, in subject areas such as geography, maths and science. For more on prioritising road safety to meet curriculum requirements, see the Department of Transport's guidance on delivering road safety education in your early years setting or school.

When explaining to colleagues why you want to focus on road safety, you might want to mention these 7 important points:

For every child killed, about ten more are seriously injured, causing brain injuries, paralysis and limb loss. These are horrendous, life-changing injuries for a child. Every community is affected by road death and injury at some stage.

Many of these deaths and injuries will not hit the headlines, and only be reported in local press, so the problem is bigger than you may imagine; death on the road is the biggest killer of older children and young people in the UK.

The UK has one of the worst child road death rates in Europe.

It is particularly important to focus on road safety if you have busy fast roads in your community, or if you are based in an area with deprived families. Deprived children are much more likely to die on roads than more well-off children who have large gardens and cars.

Poor road safety engineering (high speed limits, lack of cycle paths, lack of crossings) is one of the biggest causes of poor child health, because children and their parents choose, due to the danger, not to walk or cycle, and take the car instead.

Boys are much more likely to die or be hurt than girls. They are more inclined to take risks on foot, bicycles, and when a novice driver.

The older children get, the more at risk they become, as they gain independence. So road safety is not just a topic for young children.

Classroom teaching is more effective if combined with practical experiences and campaigning Effective road safety learning involves three components: classroom teaching, roadside experiences and training and then, best of all, getting the children working within your community to campaign for road safety.

Effective road safety teaching needs to:

Build on existing knowledge, not preach

Require children to think for themselves

Be discussive and creative and related to real life

Children need to be taught their road safety ABC:

A is for awareness (traffic is dangerous and hurts people) B is for behaviour (rules you must follow to stay safer) C is for choice and community campaigning (how to make the safest choices and to help others make these choices too)

Under 8’s can be taught A and B from the age of two upwards. They can be taught rules and encouraged to follow them through practical training. However, under 8’s should never use roads without an adult, and adults should follow the Green Cross Code at all times when on foot with their children. Adults should, at all times, hold children’s hands or use reins with younger children because under 8’s: -have difficulty judging speed and distance; -are easily distracted and act on impulse; -have difficulty understanding danger and death and are oriented around play; -are small (so can’t see hazards) and are still developing eyesight and hearing; -should never be allowed to walk near roads on their own for these reasons and more. -are carefree, not careless!

Over 8’s will have more ability to understand C, and make their own choices based on different options and assessment of risk. However, they need to have A and B re-emphasised to them because over 8’s: -may walk on their own but make mistakes that can cost their lives because of lack of experience; -are vulnerable to peer pressure from other children to make risky choices, such as running across a road.

The following sections list teaching topics within the road safety ABC.

A is for awareness: Traffic is dangerous and hurts people You can teach, with increasing frankness as children get older, that:

Traffic hurts thousands of people every year.

People hurt by traffic are often killed and seriously injured. Injuries include paralysis and losing limbs. (Note: many children may think minor injuries such as breaking an arm are OK, or even fun, because it draws attention to them.)

Some people do dangerous things when walking or cycling, such as texting on their mobile while crossing a road. These people are more likely to be killed or hurt.

Some drivers break laws, which increases the chance of you being killed or hurt - for example, speeding, or driving when drunk. We have laws such as speed limits to stop people being killed or hurt in crashes, but some drivers break laws.

B is for behaviour: Rules you can follow to stay safe Children need to be taught the language of road safety before they can understand the rules! For example, names of vehicles, names of street furniture such as pavements and kerbs, and an understanding of fast, slow, looking, listening and crossing. A well-educated reception age child should already have a grasp of fundamental road safety rules thanks to their parents. However, others may not have benefited from this care. Therefore, you will have to begin by checking that all children understand the following:

Pavements are for people; roads are for traffic.

Never go out near roads without a grown up. Hold their hand and don’t let go.

Stop at once if you are told. Never try to cross a road until you are told.

Never run or play near roads - play in a park or garden.

You can help grown ups look and listen for traffic.

Lollipop people, pelican crossings and zebra crossings help people cross the road. When a red man appears, it means you must stop.

You can wear bright clothes to be seen by traffic.

In a car, never undo your belt and don’t play with door handles or try to get out.

By the age of 5, children are ready to learn, in addition to the above:

The Crossing Code (find a safe place to cross, stop, look, listen, cross with care)

The safest places to cross: underpasses; footbridges; where there is a lollipop person; pelican and puffin crossings; zebra crossings.

In a car, only get out on the pavement side.

In a bus or coach or minibus, wear your seat belt if one is fitted. When getting off, never cross the road in front or behind the bus. Wait until it has pulled away so you can see in all directions.

By the age of 9 and upwads, depending on development, children are ready to explore:

Bereavement issues and the social and economic impacts of road crashes.

The responsibilities of drivers.

The dangers of giving in to peer pressure to take risks.

Read more about teaching older pupils further down.

C is for choice: How to make the safest choices and help others stay safe too Under-8’s are ill-equipped to make their own choices. However, it is important that older children recognise their ability to make safe choices, recognise pressures they may come under to make dangerous choices and learn how to resist those pressures, and how to speak up for the safety of others too. Younger children can also be encouraged to think about choices, as long as they are not encouraged to make those choices on their own. All children can be encouraged to speak out against dangerous behaviour, such as children pushing each other into the road, or running across roads without looking, or drivers driving too fast, or people not doing up their seatbelts.

Teaching road safety to children and young people aged 11-20

Pupils aged 11-20 may initially think that road safety is for ‘babies’ and ‘boring’, but most young people have a lot to say about road safety and won’t find it boring as long as it’s taught well! In fact, effective road safety teaching with these age ranges enables you to explore challenging and worth-while areas, including:

Death and bereavement

Life-changing injuries (paralysis and brain injury) and how this affects people and their families

Taking responsibility for others in the context of good citizenship - particularly if we are driving

Our addiction to cars and how they affect communities

The battle of the sexes - differences in risk-taking behaviour among males and females

Alcohol and drugs - the rise in binge-driving and drug use among young people, linked with the issue of drink-driving

The power of adrenalin and testosterone to negate concerns for personal safety

There are a number of reasons that pupils may not initially be receptive to road safety teaching because of poor attitudes. For example, they may:

Think they ‘know it all’ and road safety is for ‘babies’;

Already be taking extreme risks on roads (for example, mucking about on foot on busy roads, driving without a licence or taking illegal drugs and driving);

Feel invincible - road crashes happen to someone else, not them. They think their youth and fast reaction times will keep them out of trouble;

Have a misunderstanding of the true extent of deaths and injuries on roads and just how at risk they are, particularly as young people.

On the positive side, young people are likely to:

Have witnessed risky behaviour on roads and grasp road safety issues easily as they deal with roads every day;

Have experienced, or heard of, someone in their community being hurt or killed in a road crash, and therefore understand that death and serious injury is a reality on roads.

Effective road safety teaching for this age range should:

Build on pupils’ existing knowledge, not preach;

Require pupils to think for themselves and conduct original research;

Be discussive and creative, and related to pupils’ real lives;

Involve real-life projects (such as devising and running a campaign to get parents and pupils to ‘belt up’) not just class-room learning;

Explore the dangers of risk-taking;

Explain clearly that road safety is about stopping deaths and life-long serious injuries and therefore it is crucial to take it seriously - particularly as these pupils are in the highest risk group for dying on roads.

Now plan your lessons! Go back to Teaching resources for lesson ideas, downloads, web links and more advice.

Road safety charity Brake and Churchill Insurance are urging drivers to ‘go 20’ and take more care in communities, as their latest survey puts the spotlight on irresponsible driving around schools and nurseries. Three in five parents (59%) reported witnessing speeding outside their child’s school or nursery in the past year, with the same number (60%) also reporting drivers pulling out or turning without looking properly.

The findings come as up to 26,000 tots across the UK take part in the first national Beep Beep! Day of 2015, a road safety project for nurseries and infant schools run by Brake and Churchill and aimed at helping keep young children safe on the roads. See the Beep Beep Day! launch video and photos.

Brake and Churchill’s survey of 1,000 parents of 5-11 year olds also found:

Nearly half (47%) reported distracted driving, such as drivers on phones, around their child’s school.

Two thirds (65%) reported inconsiderate or illegal parking around their child’s school.

Three in 10 (30%) had witnessed children not being secured properly in child restraints.

Worryingly, there are indications that parents themselves could be part of the problem. A third (32%) admitted they don’t drive more safely, for instance by slowing down and looking more than usual, near schools and nurseries, and a quarter (24%) admitted they don’t even do so around their child’s own school or nursery. Three in five also admitted they don’t take more care around homes (62%) or shops (60%).

As well as teaching children aged two to seven road safety basics, Brake’s Beep Beep! Days raise awareness among parents and drivers about how they can keep kids safe. As this year’s project kicks off, Brake and Churchill are appealing to all drivers, including parents, to take responsibility for children’s safety to help prevent the six child deaths and serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day [1].

In particular, drivers are being asked to stick to 20mph or below around schools, nurseries, homes and shops, to protect children and others on foot or bike.Find out aboutBrake’s GO 20 campaign.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said:“All children have the right to a healthy life, and to be able to play safely – rights that are universally enshrined in the UN convention on the rights of the child. And yet, in the UK, one of the most developed countries in the world, our children are often denied these rights because of the lethal danger posed by fast traffic and careless driving. That’s why, in a year when the UN is asking people across the world to help #SaveKidsLives on roads, we’re calling on UK drivers to take the lead in making roads safer for children – by going 20mph or less and taking more care in communities. As well as educating kids about road danger, we hope the Beep Beep! Day project will serve as an inspiration for parents and drivers to help reduce that danger.”

Steve Barrett, head of Churchill Car Insurance, said: “We are very proud to be supporting Beep Beep! Day once again this year. Too many children die or are seriously injured on our roads each day. Beep Beep! Day is a great way of starting to educate young children on road safety, as well as raising awareness among drivers, including parents and grandparents, of the need to drive with extreme care when young children are about.”

In 2014, 15,000 children took part in a Beep Beep! Day. Brake encourages nurseries, playgroups, infant schools, children's centres and childminders to run the event on one of three dates – in 2015, these are 18 March, 8 July and 15 November – or on whatever day is best for them. Nurseries receive a free electronic pack with downloadable resources, or can buy a bumper hard-copy pack for £12.60 (inc VAT) to help them run road safety activities and promote road safety to parents and the community.

Beep Beep! Days involve activities such as creating a poster of hand prints saying 'We hold hands', experimenting with toy cars to learn the words stop and go, and singing road safety songs. Activities are designed to help children to start understanding road safety, and to emphasise to parents and other adults their responsibilities in protecting children. Sponsorship raised by children helps Brake provide support for families bereaved and injured by road crashes and run community road safety campaigns.

When your child starts to walk with you around your community, talk to them about how they must always hold your hand. If your child is likely to pull away from you, use safety reins or a wrist strap. Hold hands until your child is at least eight, or longer depending on their development.

Make sure they understand the meaning of stop, traffic, danger, look, listen, walk don't run, and other key words. Encourage your child's nursery or playgroup to teach road safety through a Beep Beep! Day. Your child's learning will be more effective if they are taught about road safety at school as well as at home.

These results, released today (Wednesday 18 March 2015), are from a survey of 1,000 parents of children aged 5-11, conducted by independent survey company Surveygoo in March 2015.

Q1. Do you drive more safely (e.g. slowing down and looking around more) around the following? (tick all that apply)

Your own child’s school or nursery – 76%

Other schools and nurseries – 68%

Leisure facilities (e.g. parks, playgrounds, sports facilities) – 50%

Shops – 40%

Homes – 38%

None of the above – 15%

Q2. Have you witnessed any of the following bad driving behaviour around your child(ren)’s school or nursery in the past year? (tick all that apply)

Speeding – 59%

Pulling out/turning without looking properly – 60%

Inconsiderate/illegal parking – 65%

Road rage – 33%

Distracted driving (e.g. on phones) – 47%

Children not belted up properly in child restraints – 30%

None of the above – 11%

Brake

Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education, services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs.

Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

Churchill

Founded in 1989, Churchill is now one of the UK's leading providers of general insurance, offering car, home, travel and pet insurance cover over the phone or on-line.

Churchill general insurance policies are underwritten by UK Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England No 1179980. UK Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Churchill and UK Insurance Limited are both part of Direct Line Insurance Group plc. Customers can find out more about Churchill products or get a quote by calling 0800 200300 or visiting www.churchill.com.

Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. The money you raise supports this vital work.

Funds raised for Brake through events such as Beep Beep! Day help us to support bereaved and injured victims of road crashes, to campaign on various issues including for 20mph limits and crossings in communities.

Fundraising ideas for Beep Beep! Days

There are many ways you can raise money for Brake as part of your Beep Beep! Day event. Below are a few examples of fundraisers that other organisations have run and you can find more examples on our fundraising pages:

Have a bake sale! Baking is back in fashion and is an easy way for children to raise money for Brake. Make your favourite cupcakes or try our traffic light biscuit recipe and then sell them to parents, staff and pupils.

Hold a bring-and-buy sale or fun day and invite parents and local residents to have a stall or attend on the day, with proceeds going towards Brake.

Have a fun dress-down day! Encourage all the children to come to school dressed in bright clothes and donate a pound to raise money for Brake.

Play 'name the teddy' and give children the chance to win a cute teddy bear. Download our Name-the-bear Sheet; choose a name for the bear and seal it in an envelope. Charge £2 per guess. When the sheet is complete, announce the winner, who wins the teddy and donate the funds to Brake.

Guess how many sweets are in a jar. Find a glass bottle; fill it with sweets of your choice, decoratewith a ribbon and make it look attractive, count the sweets and seal the answer in an envelope. Charge £2 per guess. When the sheet is complete, announce the winner, who wins the sweets and donate the funds to Brake.

How your fundraising can make a difference:

£10 allows Brake to provide a free picture book for a child who has been bereaved in a road crash, to help them begin understand their loss, and guidance to their carers

£50 enables us to operate our helpline for an hour, supporting people affected by road crashes

£150 enables Brake to train 20 people to become campaigners for road safety in their community

£450 helps Brake to coordinate a road safety media campaign in a local community to help make their roads safer

Funds also help us produce resources such as our 'Someone has died in a road crash books' (pictured), which help children who have suffered the death of a loved one in a road crash. To order a copy, call 01484 559909 or email admin@brake.org.uk. You can also go to www.suddendeath.org, a Brake project committed to sharing best practice research and resources for professionals working with people affected by sudden bereavement.

Read on to find out about Beep Beep! Days that took part in 2015, helping children aged 2-7 learn about road safety and raising valuable funds for Brake's work too. Find out more tips for your Beep Beep! Day.

Corrine Foster Childminding ran a Beep Beep! Day on our first national date in March 2015. Fifteen children from the childminders took part in the event learning road safety basics. Using support from Brake, including using our template press release, local papers The Dronfield Eye and The Dronfield Advertiser covered the event.

Funkidoo Childminding in Bath ran a Beep Beep! Day in March. Lucy Giffen from Funkiddo childminding chose to run a Beep Beep! Day fundraiser after a recent bereavement due to a road crash in the local area, to help support Brake's campaigns for safer roads to prevent future tragedies. 50 children took part in their event which was supported by the local fire and rescue service who bought a fire engine for the children to look at.

Diana Pawsey ran a Beep Beep! Day on the second national date of the year in July at her childminding setting. Using one of Brake's new bumper resource packs they ran a range of events for the children, including using the activity cards to teach the children road safety songs, which they now sing on their walk to and from school. They also raised £20.00 to support Brake's campaigns and support services.

In March twent-six children from the nursery and reception classes of Eardisley CE Primary School ran a Beep Beep! Day. Using the bumper resource pack from Brake they ran a range of road safety activities, learning about being safe around roads in the school playground, creating posters to display in a 'road safety window' to show to parents, made traffic light biscuits, and learned road safety songs.

The children at Larbert Day Nursery in Falkirk enjoyed a whole week filled with activities for Road Safety Week. They were visited by the local lollipop lady, fire brigade and police to learn some road safety basics while engaging with their community. They ran a Beep Beep! Day on the final national event of the year, and enjoyed riding their bikes round the nursery gardens, while fundraising for Brake.

In 2017, almost 19,000 children took part in road safety activities and raise valuable funds for Brake with events on Wednesday 15 February,Wednesday 10 May, Wednesday 27 September and Wednesday 22 November. Click here to register for our events in 2018. You can email beepbeep@brake.org.uk for more information and to find out tips for your Beep Beep! Day.

The London Borough of Havering bought a whopping 250 Beep Beep! Day Bumper Packs from us so they could give them to their local nurseries for free. We even produced tailored resources with their logo on. The council is distributing them across the borough throughout 2017 to help nurseries improve road safety.

Work for a local authority or company? Why not do the same? It's a great initiative to involve your local community . Send us an email to find out how we can work with you.

Staff from Warburtons’ Basingstoke Distribution Centre, in Hampshire, ran a very busy Beep Beep! Day at Kempshott Infants School. The children heard about the importance of walking safely, using seatbelts and holding hands. Warburtons even took one of their lorries so the children could talk about stopping distances and the difference between the lorry being hard and children being soft, which means it can hurt them. Children also sat in the lorry to understand the basics of blind spots and the difficulties faced by drivers.

Our bumper packs were put to good use at Drybrook Primary School in Gloucestershire. The school held a whole week of road safety activities, learning about how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. The children had road safety assemblies, played games and took part in quizzes. They had a visit from the police and their school crossing patrol officer. The children were taught about the importance of staying away from traffic and how to cross the road safely with an adult. They also raised an amazing £185 by dressing in bright clothes and selling Brake badges and wristbands.

As well as taking part in Brake’s abseil, Michelle Ralph from Hampshire has been encouraging her children’s nursery/school to learn all about road safety. Michelle has been fundraising for Brake after her uncle was killed in a road crash in October 2016 and wants the children and parents to understand the importance of road safety. They took part in lots of fun activities by using our bumper pack. They also did a quiz on road safety, stop and go games, discussions about road safety and each child’s journey to school and how it can be safe. Along with her sister Danielle, Michelle is aiming to raise more than £1,500 for Brake!

Zak the Zebra visited Beaumont Primary Academy in Huddersfield to help the children with their Beep Beep! Day. They enjoyed using our global resources that were produced as part of UN Road Safety Week. The children got to see how other kids travel to school across the world by using our map and colouring sheets, and got very messy and colourful learning about the importance of holding hands with grown-ups by creating a hand print poster. Zak, teachers and children then walked to highlight safe routes and crossing places.

William Fletcher School in Oxford had a very busy Beep Beep! Day. As well as using our resources, the school used other road safety books and presentations to build a day of activities. The children made road signs, traffic lights and lollipops so they could identify when cars need to stop and put their knowledge in to practice on a large road map. The children made traffic light biscuits, coloured in our colouring sheets and had lots of fun singing road safety songs. Important messages were then sent home to parents in the form of a road safety activity pack and guide for the children to continue their activities and share their knowledge. The children also raised £30 for Brake.

All year groups got involved at Broadfields School in London. The nursery children practised crossing the road on a zebra crossing, while reception class learned the importance of holding hands with an adult and made posters for their parents. Year One and Two classes went out to their school minibus and talked about the importance of wearing seatbelts, while children in Year Three learned about travel from around the world and the safest ways to get to school. Children in Year Four and Six discussed the importance of crossing the road safely and played road safety games. And Year Five pupils got creative and wrote poems to promote walking to school, road safety and reducing pollution. Due to the focus on road safety, the school had a record number of children on their walking bus as lots of children walked, cycled and scooted to school for the first time!

Children and parents at St Oswald’s Praise & Play in Cheshire loved getting involved with their Beep Beep! Day. They worked together to learn about safe routes to walk and the importance of crossing the road safely when with adults. The group was visited by their local Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) to help run the activities, which included the children dressing up as a lollypop person. The group also raised more than £40 for Brake. The money will go towards the charity's work campaigning for safer roads and supporting bereaved and seriously injured road crash victims.

Brake corporate partner McGee visited Sir John Cass’s Foundation Primary School in the City of London to help them run a Beep Beep! Day in June. Alongside the City of London Corporation Road Safety Team, they engaged 240 children in the importance of road safety. The children learned about the dangers of adults speeding in their community and McGee staff delivered interactive workshops with the older children, using resources through Brake’s road safety poster competition.

The children at Lasswade Primary School in Bonnyrigg, Scotland, loved their Beep Beep! Day event in November. They took part in lots of different activities including making great use of our bumper pack of resources. The children learned about the importance of holding hands with an adult when crossing the road and used our hand print poster to create colourful artwork. The nursery children took their hand print posters, certificates and stickers home with them, to help raise awareness to their grown-ups.

Hexham Children’s Centre in Northumberland had a busy Beep Beep! Day during Road Safety Week 2017 by incorporating activities within their ‘learning together through play’ session. The children, with help from their grown-up, made traffic light sandwiches and created collage car pictures. They played a game with playdough, matching red, yellow and green to traffic light pictures to identify when they need to stop and when it’s safe to cross the road with an adult. Their neighbourhood police officer also paid a visit and brought along a police van for the children to explore. The children centre made sure adults got involved with the event too, so they understood how they can help keep children safe on our roads.

In 2018, 80,000 children are registered to take part in one of three Beep Beep! Days on Wednesday 7 March, Wednesday 27 June and Wednesday 21 November. They will take part in road safety activities and raise valuable funds for Brake. Click here to register for our events in 2018. You can email beepbeep@brake.org.uk for more information and to find out tips for your Beep Beep! Day.

Brake, the road safety charity, is encouraging families to get out of their cars and on to their feet as part of Living Streets’ Walk to School Week.

Half of our children are driven to school, yet the average school run for primary age children is just 1.5 miles.[i]

Average walking trips per person have decreased by 27% since 1995, with walking now making up just over a fifth (22%) of trips in Britain.[ii]

In that time congestion and air pollution have increased, as have our waistlines, with childhood obesity being described be experts as an epidemic.

Driving less means there will be less harmful pollution pumped into our atmosphere and children and parents will get more exercise. There are financial benefits too. It’s estimated an average family can save £642 a year by swapping a car-based school run for walking or cycling. [iii]

Regular walking, jogging and cycling can help guard against asthma, depression, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and some cancers.[iv]

Alice Bailey communications and campaigns adviser for Brake, the road safety charity, said: Walking to school, which was once so common place, seems to be the second option for most parents nowadays. We need walking to school to become the norm once again and events such as Walk to School Week and next month’s Brake’s Giant Walk can hopefully showcase the benefits of an active start to the day rather than jumping in the car.

Joe Irvin, Living Streets’ CEO said: “Not only are we experiencing a childhood obesity crisis, we’re also facing a rise in mental health and wellbeing problems. We know that keeping active is a major part of the solution.“We must prioritise ways of encouraging physical activity if we want today’s children to become healthy adults. The walk to school is a free, easy and accessible way for parents and their children to achieve this. Sadly, just 46 per centof primary school children walk to school compared to 70 per cent of their parents’ generation. We must reverse this decline.”Donabie, Anna, Transport: Social Trends 41, Office for National Statistics (2011)

About Brake’s Giant WalkBrake’s Giant Walk is an annual event in primary schools where children learn about traffic pollution and danger, and transport choices. Schools taking part get their pupils to walk (in a crocodile of supervised kids, holding hands on safe pavements, or around the school’s grounds) which gives children a voice, helping them tell drivers to slow down and look out for people on foot. Children can be sponsored to take part and schools can run fundraising events, helping fund Brake's campaigns and services for families bereaved and injured by road crashes.

Brake is a national road safety charity, founded in 1995, that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education,services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

Schools, community groups, employers and professionals are being urged to get involved inRoad Safety Week 2015 (23-29 November), the UK’s biggest road safety event, which involves thousands of schools each year. The charity Brake, which coordinates the event, is encouraging educators, professionals and community leaders to go to www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk to get ideas on teaching and promoting road safety during the Week, andregister for a free e-action pack.

Road Safety Week is now in its 19th year and coordinated with the support of headline sponsor Specsavers and the Department for Transport. It’sa great opportunity for groups and individuals to team up and take action on road safety, and run activities to raise awareness and prevent needless casualties.

Everyone can access free electronic resources and guidance to help them get involved.Go to www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk for ideas and to register to get a free e-action pack (emailed out from September). This includes downloadable posters to display during the Week and advice and case studies of what other schools have done in previous years.

Announced this week, the Road Safety Week 2015 theme is‘drive less, live more’.Educators can link activities to this theme or any road safety topic.Brake will be encouraging families to consider how they use roads, and if they can ditch some vehicle mileage, and instead walk, cycle or use public transport as much as possible. Educators can engage pupils in exploring the benefits of sustainable and active travel and opportunities for their family to get around this way.They can: run a travel survey; map safe active travel routes in the area, promote active travel to students and parents through a display or web page; run lessons and assemblies that explore sustainable and active travel benefits.Read more.

Road crashes are the biggest cause of death among young people [1], and there is increasing acknowledgement of the threat traffic pollution and sedentary lifestyles pose to children and families. So raising awareness of road safety and creating safe spaces for sustainable and active travel is vital. It’s an engaging topic, with plenty of scope for creative and interactive learning, while also meeting curriculum goals. Road Safety Week is also an opportunity for schools to promote wider action in the community to protect local children and families.Read more examples of how educators got involved in 2014.

Julie Townsend, Brake deputy chief executive, says:“Road safety isn’t just about safe driving and using the green cross code. It’s about making our streets safe and pleasant for everyone to use freely, and doing what we can to protect ourselves, people around us and the environment. A big part of that is driving less if we can, and this can make a huge difference to families’ health and wellbeing, communities and the planet. That’s why this Road Safety Week, we’re encouraging everyone to consider how they use roads, and if possible ditch some vehicle mileage, and walk, cycle or use public transport instead.

“Everyone can help to get this vital message out. Thousands get involved in Road Safety Week every year - see www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk for ideas, and to register for a free action pack to help you take part.”

About Road Safety WeekRoad Safety Week is the UK’s flagship road safety event, coordinated annually by the charityBrake, and now in its 19th year. In 2015 it will take place 23-29 November, with headline sponsorship from Specsavers and with support from the Department for Transport. Road Safety Week aims to raise awareness about the devastation of road crashes and casualties, and the part we can all play in making our roads and communities safer. It does this by encouraginggrassroots involvement and promoting awareness-raising and educational messages. Each year it involves thousands of communities, schools, organisations and professionals across the UK running a wide range of road safety activities.www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk

Brake

Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education,services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs.

Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

About Specsavers

Specsavers was founded by Doug and Dame Mary Perkins in 1984 and is now the largest privately owned opticians in the world. The couple still run the company, along with their three children. Their son John is joint managing director

Specsavers has more than 1,600 stores throughout the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Australia and New Zealand

Total revenue for the Specsavers Group was£

More than 20 million customers used Specsavers globally in 2011/2012. As of end March 2012, Specsavers had 16,138,076 customers in the UK and 928,582 customers in the Republic of Ireland

Specsavers optical stores and hearing centres are owned and run by joint venture or franchise partners. Together, they offer both optical and hearing services under one roof.

Specsavers employs more than 30,000 staff

Specsavers was voted Britain’s most trusted brand of opticians for the eleventh year running by the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey 2012

More than one in three people who wear glasses in the UK buy them from Specsavers - 10,800,000 glasses were exported from the warehouse to stores in 2011

Specsavers was ranked No 1 for both eye tests and glasses in the UK

Specsavers sold more than 290 million contact lenses globally in 2011/12 and has more than a million customers on direct debit schemes. Specsavers' own contact lens brand - easyvision - is the most known on the high street

The hearcare business in the UK has established itself as the number one high streetprovider of adult audiologyservices to the NHS

Specsavers supports several UK charities including Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Sound Seekers, the road safety charity Brake, the anti-bullying charity Kidscape and Vision Aid Overseas, for whom stores have raised enough funds to build a school of optometry in Zambia and open eyecare outreach clinics in much of the country

Schools, community groups, employers and professionals are urged to take part in Road Safety Week 2014 (17-23 November), the UK's biggest road safety event, which involves thousands of individuals and organisations each year. The charity Brake, which coordinates the event, is encouraging people to go to www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk to register for a free e-action pack, and to start planning great events and promote road safety during the Week.

Road Safety Week, supported by headline sponsors RSA and Specsavers, is a great opportunity for everyone to engage pupils, employees or their community in life-saving lessons. The theme of Road Safety Week 2014 is 'look out for each other': raising awareness of the ways everyone can help protect one another on roads, especially the most vulnerable. Brake will particularly call on drivers to protect kids and adults on foot and bike by slowing down to 20 in communities and looking twice and taking it slow at junctions and bends. We'll also call on everyone to be considerate to one another on roads. Read more. People can run their initiative on this theme or any other road safety topic.

REGISTER NOW! Register at www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk to get a free e-action pack. Plus, stay in touch by following @BrakeCharity and tweet about the Week using #roadsafetyweek

Julie Townsend, Brake deputy chiefexecutive, says: "Road safety is a critical issue for schools, and educators can be pivotal in helping reduce the risks children and young people face – by teaching road safety, raising awareness locally and campaigning for safer streets. Our 2014 theme is 'look out for each other', so educators can join our calls for everyone to be considerate on roads, and help get the message to drivers about protecting kids on foot and bike.

"There are endless options for getting involved, whether it's teaching children about being bright and seen, educating teenagers about not taking risks as passengers, encouraging families to walk not drive, or campaigning for drivers to slow down. Log onto the Road Safety Week website for ideas and examples, and to register for a free e-action pack to help you take part."

Road Safety Week is the UK's flagship road safety event, coordinated annually by the charity Brake, and now in its 18th year. In 2014 it will take place 17-23 November, with headline sponsorship from RSA and Specsavers. Road Safety Week aims to raise awareness about the devastation of road crashes and casualties, and the part we can all play in making our roads and communities safer. It does this by encouraging grassroots involvement and promoting awareness-raising and educational messages. Each year it involves thousands of communities, schools, organisations and professionals across the UK running a wide range of road safety activities. www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk

About Brake

Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education, services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs.

Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to familieswhose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

About RSA Group

With a 300 year heritage, RSA is one of the world's leading multinational quoted insurance groups. RSA has major operations in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada, Ireland, Asia and the Middle East, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe and has the capability to write business in around 140 countries. Focusing on general insurance, RSA has around 23,000 employees and, in 2013, its net written premiums were £8.7 billion. As a leading car insurer we have a natural interest in promoting safety awareness and reducing the number of crashes on our roads. In the UK we have been a partner of Brake since 2011 and we also undertake road safety campaigns in many of our businesses across the world.

AboutSpecsavers

Specsavers was founded by Doug and Dame Mary Perkins in 1984 and is now the largest privately owned opticians in the world. The couple still run the company, along with their three children. Their son John is joint managing director.

Specsavers has more than 1,600 stores throughout the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.

Total revenue for the Specsavers Group was £1.7 billion in 2011/2012.

More than 20 million customers used Specsavers globally in 2011/2012. As of end March 2012, Specsavers had 16,138,076 customers in the UK and 928,582 customers in the Republic of Ireland.

Specsavers optical stores and hearing centres are owned and run by joint venture or franchise partners. Together, they offer both optical and hearing services under one roof.

Specsavers employs more than 30,000 staff.

Specsavers was voted Britain's most trusted brand of opticians for the eleventh year running by the Reader's Digest Trusted Brands survey 2012.

More than one in three people who wear glasses in the UK buy them from Specsavers - 10,800,000 glasses were exported from the warehouse to stores in 2011.

Specsavers was ranked No 1 for both eye tests and glasses in the UK.

Specsavers sold more than 290 million contact lenses globally in 2011/12 and has more than a million customers on direct debit schemes. Specsavers' own contact lens brand - easyvision - is the most known on the high street.

The hearcare business in the UK has established itself as the number one high street provider of adult audiology services to the NHS.

Specsavers supports several UK charities including Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Sound Seekers, the road safety charity Brake, the anti-bullying charity Kidscape and Vision Aid Overseas, for whom stores have raised enough funds to build a school of optometry in Zambia and open eyecare outreach clinics in much of the country.

A fixed penalty for ‘careless driving’ or speeding is issued in the East of England every five minutes

Two in five (38%) primary school children in the East of England have been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while on foot or bike

Road safety charity Brake is today launching a campaign calling on all road users to look out for each other, to help stop the five deaths and 61 serious injuries that happen daily on UK roads [1][2], and particularly to protect people on foot and bike. In the East of England region, 178 people were killed and 2,191 seriously injured last year.

The call comes at the start of Road Safety Week, coordinated by Brake, during which thousands of schools, companies and communities will be raising awareness and police across the UK will be stepping up traffic enforcement to deter and catch drivers putting others at risk.

As part of the campaign, Brake and partners RSA and Specsavers are today (17 Nov) revealing statistics showing shocking numbers of drivers risking lives by flouting traffic laws. 98,084 fixed penalty notices were issued for ‘careless driving’ and speeding offences in the East of England in 2013 – one every five minutes. 96,116 were for speeding and 1,968 for careless driving (a fixed penalty newly introduced in August 2013). Embargoed figures are available by postcode, including the top 10 worst postcode areas[3].

This lack of patience, consideration and responsibility towards other road users can and does result in tragedy. It can also stop the most vulnerable from exercising their right to healthy, active, sustainable travel. Results of Brake’s survey of 400 primary school children in the East region[4], released today, show:

three in five (63%) think roads in their community can be dangerous for walking and cycling;

two in five (38%) have been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while on foot or bike.

Brake is calling on all road users to look out for each other, and particularly urging drivers to protect kids and adults on foot and bike – by slowing down to 20mph in communities, looking longer and taking it slow at junctions and bends, and giving people plenty of room and consideration. See below for facts showing why these steps are important.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said:“When drivers use roads without care for others the consequences can be tragic and horrific – people killed and badly injured, lives ruined forever, because of a moment of impatience or selfishness. At Brake we witness the suffering that results, daily, through our work supporting people affected by road death and injury. And there are wider consequences if we don’t look out for each other on roads – people afraid to walk and cycle or let their kids walk and cycle, and unable to get out and enjoy their community and live active lifestyles. That’s why, instead of making our streets stressful, risky places, we’re asking all road users to look out for and protect each other, particularly the most vulnerable – that means drivers sticking to 20 or below in towns and villages, looking carefully at junctions, and being considerate. Ultimately, we’re all just human beings trying to get around, with equal right to use the roads, not competing tribes.”

Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, the Association of Chief Police Officers’ national lead for roads policing, added:“Our officers and staff do a vital job in enforcing important safety laws and protecting the public on the roads. Road Safety Week is a great opportunity for forces and partners to engage with their local communities to deliver important road safety messages and undertake enforcement activities in support of Brake’s week.”

Road safety minister Robert Goodwill MP added his support, saying:“Cycling and walking are healthy ways to get around and are good for the environment too and I want more people to be able to make this choice for their journeys. At the same time we want to ensure cyclists and pedestrians are safe. That is why in the Cycling Delivery Plan I announced our proposals for the next phase of work on cycle and pedestrian safety. This includes cycle-proofing our roads and wider transport infrastructure, a review of regulations, the need to highlight best practice to local authorities, an update to the national design standards and a review of the driving test.”

Peter Collins, group and UK head of corporate responsibility at RSA, commented:“A lack of patience or consideration for others on the roads can sometimes lead to dangerous, if not life threatening situations. Prevention is better than cure, so taking the time to look out for each other, being careful and considerate to all road users whether in vehicles, on bikes or on foot can help keep Britain's roads safe for everyone."

Specsavers founder Dame Mary Perkins says:“Specsavers stores have been proud to support Road Safety Week for a number of years. Good eyesight is essential to road safety, which is clearly recognised by this year's theme, ‘look out for each other’. But ‘looking out for each other’ isn’t just about keeping your eyesight up to scratch; it’s about keeping your mind sharp and being aware and considerate of everyone around you, especially vulnerable people on foot and bike who need that bit of extra protection. Specsavers stores will be doing their bit to raise awareness, and helping make sure people can be seen on the road.”

In the UK in 2013, 405 people were killed and 5,160 seriously injured walking, and 113 people were killed and 3,185 seriously injured cycling [6]. That's 24 people a day killed or seriously injured on foot or bike – one every hour.

Speed is a critical factor in all road crashes, and especially in protecting vulnerable road users. If something unexpected happens – such as a child stepping out suddenly – it is a driver’s speed that determines if they can stop in time, and if they can’t, how hard they will hit. Every 1mph reduction in average speeds causes, on average, a 5% reduction in crash rates[7], anddrivers who speed are nearly twice as likely to have been involved in a crash[8]. Advice for drivers: stick to 20mph or below around homes, schools and shops. Your stopping distance in an emergency will be half what it is at 30mph, and in busy urban areas you won’t notice a difference in your journey time. You’ll save on fuel, vehicle wear and emissions.

Vulnerable road users are often at risk from vehicles manoeuvring, such as at junctions, where they may not be seen in a blind spot. 75% of cyclist collisions occur at or near junctions when vehicles are turning [9]. Advice for drivers: take it really slow at junctions and bends, look longer and carefully check mirrors before manoeuvring. Always assume a pedestrian or cyclist may be there; never just assume it’s safe to turn.

Traffic around homes, schools and shops, which could often be redirected to roads with fewer people walking or cycling, puts vulnerable road users at risk. Advice for drivers: consider your route and if you can minimise driving in communities. Consider if you need to make your journey by car at all: could you walk, cycle, or take public transport? Studies show active travel makes you happier as well as healthier [10].

Fear of traffic discourages people from walking or cycling, so it’s a big public health issue. Only 22% of journeys and 3% of miles travelled in Britain are on foot, and only 2% of journeys and 1% of miles travelled are by bike [11]. A Brake survey of UK schoolchildren found three in four (76%) would like to walk and cycle more [12]. Another survey found one in three non-cyclists would cycle if routes were safer[13].

Up to 95% of crashes are caused by driver error[14]. Thereforeit is vital drivers take responsibility to protect themselves and everyone around them. Everyone can commit to do this by making the Brake Pledge to follow six simple rules to help prevent devastating road crashes, atwww.brake.org.uk/pledge.

Notes for editors:

Brake

Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education, services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs. Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

Road Safety Week

Road Safety Week is the UK’s flagship event to promote safer road use, coordinated annually by the charity Brake and involving thousands of schools, communities and organisations across the country. Road Safety Week 2014 takes place 17-23 November, with support from the Department for Transport and headline sponsors RSA and Specsavers.

RSA

With a 300-year heritage, RSA is one of the world's leading multinational quoted insurance groups. RSA has major operations in the UK & Western Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and Latin America and can write business in around 140 countries in total. Focusing on general insurance such as motor, home, pet and commercial cover, RSA has more than 21,000 employees serving 17 million customers worldwide. In 2013 its net written premiums were £8.7 billion.

Since 2011, RSA's 'Fit to Drive' campaign has worked to highlight the important issue of eye health and driver safety in the UK. http://www.rsagroup.com/

Specsavers

Specsavers was founded by Doug and Dame Mary Perkins in 1984 and is now the largest privately owned opticians in the world. The couple still run the company, along with their three children. Their son John is joint managing director

Specsavers has more than 1,600 stores throughout the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Australia and New Zealand

Total revenue for the Specsavers Group was £1.7 billion in 2011/2012

More than 20 million customers used Specsavers globally in 2011/2012. As of end March 2012, Specsavers had 16,138,076 customers in the UK and 928,582 customers in the Republic of Ireland

Specsavers optical stores and hearing centres are owned and run by joint venture or franchise partners. Together, they offer both optical and hearing services under one roof.

Specsavers employs more than 30,000 staff

Specsavers was voted Britain’s most trusted brand of opticians for the eleventh year running by the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey 2012

More than one in three people who wear glasses in the UK buy them from Specsavers - 10,800,000 glasses were exported from the warehouse to stores in 2011

Specsavers was ranked No 1 for both eye tests and glasses in the UK

Specsavers sold more than 290 million contact lenses globally in 2011/12 and has more than a million customers on direct debit schemes. Specsavers' own contact lens brand - easyvision - is the most known on the high street

The hearcare business in the UK has established itself as the number one high street provider of adult audiology services to the NHS

Specsavers supports several UK charities including Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Sound Seekers, the road safety charity Brake, the anti-bullying charity Kidscape and Vision Aid Overseas, for whom stores have raised enough funds to build a school of optometry in Zambia and open eyecare outreach clinics in much of the country.

End notes

[1] Reported road casualties in Great Britain 2013, Department for Transport, 2014[2] Police recorded injury road traffic collision statistics: 2013 key statistics report, Police Service of Northern Ireland, 2014[3] Analysis by Brake of data provided by the DVLA, September 2014 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/et6pjj56i2w2guo/AABDJE4mN_5nlr7i5eGoixVja?dl=0.These figures are combined totals of the following careless driving offences: CD10: Driving without due care and attention; CD20: Driving without reasonable consideration for other road users; CD30: Driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other road users, and the following speeding offences: SP10: Exceeding goods vehicle speed limits; SP20: Exceeding speed limit for type of vehicle (excluding goods or passenger vehicles); SP30: Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road; SP40: Exceeding passenger vehicle speed limit; SP50: Exceeding speed limit on a motorway; SP60: Undefined speed limit offence.[4] 'Hands up' survey of 358 primary school children (aged 7-11) from schools in the East of England participating in Brake's Giant Walking Bus, carried out between January and May 2014. When asked 'do you think roads in your neighbourhood can be dangerous for kids who are walking or cycling?', 63% said yes, 37% said no. When asked 'have you ever been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while walking or cycling?', 38% said yes, 62% said no.[5] Reported road casualties in Great Britain 2013, Department for Transport, 2014[6] ibid[7] Speed, speed limits and accidents, Transport Research Laboratory, 1994[8] The speeding driver: who, how and why? Scottish Executive, 2003[9] Reported road casualties in Great Britain 2013, Department for Transport, 2014[10] Walking or cycling to work improves wellbeing, University of East Anglia, 2014 http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2014/september/active-commuting-benefits[11] National travel survey 2012, Department for Transport, 2013[12] Kids want to get active: thousands march for safer streets, Brake, 2014 http://www.brake.org.uk/news/1230-gwb2014[13] Speed in built-up areas, Brake and Direct Line, 2013 http://www.brake.org.uk/assets/docs/dl_reports/DLreport-Speed-section2-urbanroads-2013.pdf[14] Dimensions of aberrant driver behaviour, Uppsala University, Sweden, 1998

A fixed penalty for ‘careless driving’ or speeding is issued in the West Midlands every six minutes

A third (32%) of primary school children in the Midlands say they have been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while on foot or bike

Road safety charity Brake is today launching a campaign calling on all road users to look out for each other, to help stop the five deaths and 61 serious injuries that happen every day on UK roads [1][2], and particularly to protect people on foot and bike. The campaign is being backed by bereaved families from the West Midlands, where 156 people were killed and 1,642 seriously injured last year. Case studies below.

The call comes at the start of Road Safety Week, coordinated by Brake, during which thousands of schools, communities and companies are raising awareness, and police across the UK will be stepping up traffic enforcement to deter and catch drivers putting others at risk.

As part of the campaign, Brake and partners RSA and Specsavers are today (17 Nov) revealing statistics showing shocking numbers of drivers senselessly risking lives by flouting traffic laws. 94,225 fixed penalty notices were issued for ‘careless driving’ and speeding offences in the West Midlands in 2013– one every six minutes. 92,732 were for speeding and 1,493 for careless driving (a fixed penalty newly introduced in August 2013). Embargoed figures are available by postcode, including the top 10 worst postcode areas[3].

This lack of patience, consideration and responsibility towards other road users can and does result in tragedy. It can also stop the most vulnerable from exercising their right to healthy, active, sustainable travel. Results of Brake’s survey of 400 primary school children in the Midlands[4], released today, show:

four in five (82%) think roads in their community can be dangerous for walking and cycling;

a third (32%) say they have been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while on foot or bike.

Brake is calling on all road users to look out for each other, and particularly urging drivers to protect kids and adults on foot and bike – by slowing down to 20mph in communities, looking longer and taking it slow at junctions and bends, and giving people plenty of room and consideration. See below for more advice and facts showing why these steps are important.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said:“When drivers use roads without care for others the consequences can be tragic and horrific – people killed and badly injured, lives ruined forever, because of a moment of impatience or selfishness. At Brake we witness the suffering that results, daily, through our work supporting people affected by road death and injury. And there are wider consequences if we don’t look out for each other on roads – people afraid to walk and cycle or let their kids walk and cycle, and unable to get out and enjoy their community and live active lifestyles. That’s why, instead of making our streets stressful, risky places, we’re asking all road users to look out for and protect each other, particularly the most vulnerable – that means drivers sticking to 20 or below in towns and villages, looking carefully at junctions, and being considerate. Ultimately, we’re all just human beings trying to get around, with equal right to use the roads, not competing tribes.”

Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, the Association of Chief Police Officers’ national lead for roads policing, added:“Our officers and staff do a vital job in enforcing important safety laws and protecting the public on the roads. Road Safety Week is a great opportunity for forces and partners to engage with their local communities to deliver important road safety messages and undertake enforcement activities in support of Brake’s week.”

Road safety minister Robert Goodwill MP added his support, saying:“Cycling and walking are healthy ways to get around and are good for the environment too and I want more people to be able to make this choice for their journeys. At the same time we want to ensure cyclists and pedestrians are safe. That is why in the Cycling Delivery Plan I announced our proposals for the next phase of work on cycle and pedestrian safety. This includes cycle-proofing our roads and wider transport infrastructure, a review of regulations, the need to highlight best practice to local authorities, an update to the national design standards and a review of the driving test.”

Ross Stephenson, road casualty reduction team manager, West Midlands Fire Service, said:“Our main aim is to reduce the number of people, especially young people, being killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions across the West Midlands. Over the past few years, West Midlands Fire Service has fully supported Brake’s Road Safety Week and we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to launch this year’s event in the West Midlands. We want the ‘look out for each other’ message to educate as many drivers, passengers and pedestrians as possible. We are urging drivers to slow down and for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists to be fully alert to what is happening around them at all times.”

Peter Collins, group and UK head of corporate responsibility at RSA, commented:“A lack of patience or consideration for others on the roads can sometimes lead to dangerous, if not life threatening situations. Prevention is better than cure, so taking the time to look out for each other, being careful and considerate to all road users whether in vehicles, on bikes or on foot can help keep Britain's roads safe for everyone."

Specsavers founder Dame Mary Perkins says:“Specsavers stores have been proud to support Road Safety Week for a number of years. Good eyesight is essential to road safety, which is clearly recognised by this year's theme, ‘look out for each other’. But ‘looking out for each other’ isn’t just about keeping your eyesight up to scratch; it’s about keeping your mind sharp and being aware and considerate of everyone around you, especially vulnerable people on foot and bike who need that bit of extra protection. Specsavers stores will be doing their bit to raise awareness, and helping make sure people can be seen on the road.”

Case studies:

Find out about all the bereaved and injured volunteers supporting Road Safety Weekhere.

Sarah Child, 26, from Great Barr, Birmingham, a daughter, sister and aunt-to-be, was killed by a speeding driver while crossing the road with her heavily pregnant sister, Claire. Find out more.

Avril Child, Sarah’s mother, says: ‘’Sarah was a kind, beautiful daughter, who loved life and had lots of things she wanted to do. She loved her family more than anything. She lived with Claire in a house divided into two flats – so Claire not only lost her sister, and was herself seriously injured, but she also lost her home – all before having her daughter, Evie Mae. This tragedy has turned our world upside down, all because of somebody not taking the care and attention to slow down or see my poor daughters crossing the street. There is nothing that can bring Sarah back, but I hope just one person reads this and it makes them re-think how they drive to prevent more road casualties. I hope that everyone looks out for each other following this year’s Road Safety Week, and in particular that drivers will slow down to 20mph in communities, look twice and take it slow at junctions and bends, and are considerate to vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists.’’

Nicholas Andrews, 17, from Redditch,was hit by a car while walking along a grass verge to go to the shop. Hesuffered serious head injuries and died in hospital five days later. Find out more.

Helen Andrews, Nicholas’ sister, says:“Nicholas’s death has been horrendous for me and my family. We think about him every day. He was the best big brother anyone could ever ask for. He was so popular, funny and kind, and he could always make you laugh even if you felt like the world was ending – which, for me, it did when he died. The house was so empty and silent. I hated it. This huge personality, this beautiful person with the most wonderful smile, was gone. This Road Safety Week, we are asking all drivers to be as vigilant as possible to protect others. I always take care to look out for cyclists and pedestrians when I am driving as they can easily make mistakes, which they don’t deserve to die for.”

In the UK in 2013, 405 people were killed and 5,160 seriously injured walking, and 113 people were killed and 3,185 seriously injured cycling [6]. That's 24 people a day killed or seriously injured on foot or bike – one every hour.

Speed is a critical factor in all road crashes, and especially in protecting vulnerable road users. If something unexpected happens – such as a child stepping out suddenly – it is a driver’s speed that determines if they can stop in time, and if they can’t, how hard they will hit. Every 1mph reduction in average speeds causes, on average, a 5% reduction in crash rates[7], anddrivers who speed are nearly twice as likely to have been involved in a crash[8]. Advice for drivers: stick to 20mph or below around homes, schools and shops. Your stopping distance in an emergency will be half what it is at 30mph, and in busy urban areas you won’t notice a difference in your journey time. You’ll save on fuel, vehicle wear and emissions.

Vulnerable road users are often at risk from vehicles manoeuvring, such as at junctions, where they may not be seen in a blind spot. 75% of cyclist collisions occur at or near junctions when vehicles are turning [9]. Advice for drivers: take it really slow at junctions and bends, look longer and carefully check mirrors before manoeuvring. Always assume a pedestrian or cyclist may be there; never just assume it’s safe to turn.

Traffic around homes, schools and shops, which could often be redirected to roads with fewer people walking or cycling, puts vulnerable road users at risk. Advice for drivers: consider your route and if you can minimise driving in communities. Consider if you need to make your journey by car at all: could you walk, cycle, or take public transport? Studies show active travel makes you happier as well as healthier [10].

Fear of traffic discourages people from walking or cycling, so it’s a big public health issue. Only 22% of journeys and 3% of miles travelled in Britain are on foot, and only 2% of journeys and 1% of miles travelled are by bike [11]. A Brake survey of UK schoolchildren found three in four (76%) would like to walk and cycle more [12]. Another survey found one in three non-cyclists would cycle if routes were safer[13].

Up to 95% of crashes are caused by driver error[14]. Thereforeit is vital drivers take responsibility to protect themselves and people around them. Everyone can commit to do this by making the Brake Pledge to follow six simple rules to help prevent devastating road crashes, atwww.brake.org.uk/pledge.

Notes for editors:

Brake

Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education, services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs. Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

Road Safety Week

Road Safety Week is the UK’s flagship event to promote safer road use, coordinated annually by the charity Brake and involving thousands of schools, communities and organisations across the country. Road Safety Week 2014 takes place 17-23 November, with support from the Department for Transport and headline sponsors RSA and Specsavers.

RSA

With a 300-year heritage, RSA is one of the world's leading multinational quoted insurance groups. RSA has major operations in the UK & Western Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and Latin America and can write business in around 140 countries in total. Focusing on general insurance such as motor, home, pet and commercial cover, RSA has more than 21,000 employees serving 17 million customers worldwide. In 2013 its net written premiums were £8.7 billion.

Since 2011, RSA's 'Fit to Drive' campaign has worked to highlight the important issue of eye health and driver safety in the UK. http://www.rsagroup.com/

Specsavers

Specsavers was founded by Doug and Dame Mary Perkins in 1984 and is now the largest privately owned opticians in the world. The couple still run the company, along with their three children. Their son John is joint managing director

Specsavers has more than 1,600 stores throughout the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Australia and New Zealand

Total revenue for the Specsavers Group was £1.7 billion in 2011/2012

More than 20 million customers used Specsavers globally in 2011/2012. As of end March 2012, Specsavers had 16,138,076 customers in the UK and 928,582 customers in the Republic of Ireland

Specsavers optical stores and hearing centres are owned and run by joint venture or franchise partners. Together, they offer both optical and hearing services under one roof.

Specsavers employs more than 30,000 staff

Specsavers was voted Britain’s most trusted brand of opticians for the eleventh year running by the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey 2012

More than one in three people who wear glasses in the UK buy them from Specsavers - 10,800,000 glasses were exported from the warehouse to stores in 2011

Specsavers was ranked No 1 for both eye tests and glasses in the UK

Specsavers sold more than 290 million contact lenses globally in 2011/12 and has more than a million customers on direct debit schemes. Specsavers' own contact lens brand - easyvision - is the most known on the high street

The hearcare business in the UK has established itself as the number one high street provider of adult audiology services to the NHS

Specsavers supports several UK charities including Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Sound Seekers, the road safety charity Brake, the anti-bullying charity Kidscape and Vision Aid Overseas, for whom stores have raised enough funds to build a school of optometry in Zambia and open eyecare outreach clinics in much of the country.

End notes

[1] Reported road casualties in Great Britain 2013, Department for Transport, 2014[2] Police recorded injury road traffic collision statistics: 2013 key statistics report, Police Service of Northern Ireland, 2014[3] Analysis by Brake of data provided by the DVLA, September 2014 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/et6pjj56i2w2guo/AABDJE4mN_5nlr7i5eGoixVja?dl=0. These figures are combined totals of the following careless driving offences: CD10: Driving without due care and attention; CD20: Driving without reasonable consideration for other road users; CD30: Driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other road users, and the following speeding offences: SP10: Exceeding goods vehicle speed limits; SP20: Exceeding speed limit for type of vehicle (excluding goods or passenger vehicles); SP30: Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road; SP40: Exceeding passenger vehicle speed limit; SP50: Exceeding speed limit on a motorway; SP60: Undefined speed limit offence.[4] 'Hands up' survey of 433 primary school children (aged 7-11) from schools in the Midlands participating in Brake's Giant Walking Bus, carried out between January and May 2014. When asked 'do you think roads in your neighbourhood can be dangerous for kids who are walking or cycling?', 82% said yes, 18% said no. When asked 'have you ever been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while walking or cycling?', 32% said yes, 68% said no.[5] Reported road casualties in Great Britain 2013, Department for Transport, 2014[6] ibid[7] Speed, speed limits and accidents, Transport Research Laboratory, 1994[8] The speeding driver: who, how and why? Scottish Executive, 2003[9] Reported road casualties in Great Britain 2013, Department for Transport, 2014[10] Walking or cycling to work improves wellbeing, University of East Anglia, 2014 http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2014/september/active-commuting-benefits[11] National travel survey 2012, Department for Transport, 2013[12] Kids want to get active: thousands march for safer streets, Brake, 2014 http://www.brake.org.uk/news/1230-gwb2014[13] Speed in built-up areas, Brake and Direct Line, 2013 http://www.brake.org.uk/assets/docs/dl_reports/DLreport-Speed-section2-urbanroads-2013.pdf[14] Dimensions of aberrant driver behaviour, Uppsala University, Sweden, 1998

Brake, the road safety charity, has launched a brand new project for primary schools to help children spread important road safety messages in their community.

Brake’s road safety poster competition, sponsored by Co-op Insurance, is a fun, new project that aims to inspire and engage children, aged 4-11, about the need for drivers to slow down so kids can walk and cycle to school safely.

The competition, supported by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), will see winning designs from two age categories (4-7, and 7-11) turned into professional banners that will go on display outside schools or in the local community. Children can also win prizes worth hundreds of pounds for themselves and their school.

To help emergency service professionals inspire pupils, Brake has produced a series of free resources, including assembly and workshop presentations that they can deliver to either the whole school or a single class on a day of their choice. Children can then create a poster about the dangers of adults speeding - something that puts kids' lives at risk every single day.

The theme of the competition coincides with the fourth UN Global Road Safety Week (8-11 May), which focusses on speed and what can be done to address this key risk factor for road traffic deaths and injuries. Speed contributes to around one-third of road deaths in high-income countries, and up to half in low- and middle-income countries.

Schools also have the opportunity to fundraise for Brake by holding a Wear Your Stripes Day. Inspired by the charity’s mascot Zak the Zebra, children and staff can dress in striped clothing in exchange for money to the charity that supports bereaved and seriously injured road crash victims.

The competition can be run on a day of the school’s choice, but entries need to be submitted to Brake by Friday 30 June 2017.

Dave Nichols, community engagement manager for Brake, the road safety charity, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for schools, children and parents to work together to help raise awareness about the dangers of speeding in their local community. At Brake, we recognise there is a significant need to help children deepen their knowledge about road safety, and teachers want to deliver lessons that they know will help. We’re sure our new resources and competition will inspire the next generation to be both creative and passionate about getting adults to protect all of us when using roads. I would encourage any school that works with children aged 4-11 to enter, and we look forward to seeing their designs.”

James Hillon, Director of Products at Co-op Insurance said: “At Co-op Insurance we want to support local communities in educating people of all ages on the importance of road safety. If done right, this could lead the way in improving road safety and make UK roads safer for years to come. We're really happy to be supporting Brake on such a worthwhile cause to get the message out to primary school children.”

Sean Bone-Knell, National Fire Chiefs Council Road Safety Lead, said: “The National Fire Chiefs Council is pleased to be working with children and parents across the country to highlight the issues of speeding and the impact this can have on people’s lives. Children are our future; and if we can help them understand the basics of road safety at an early age, we are hopeful this will help them stay safe on and around our roads.”

Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Roads Policing, said: “Speeding is a significant factor in an unacceptable number of road collisions. Education is absolutely critical to improving the way people drive and so we are pleased to support this initiative. Parents and young people themselves need to understand the risks associated with excessive speeding. The earlier this conversation begins, the safer our roads can be for future generations.”

Brake is a national road safety and sustainable transport charity, founded in 1995, that exists to stop the needless deaths, serious injuries and pollution occurring on our roads every day. We work to make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake's vision is a world where there are zero road deaths and injuries, and people can get around in ways that are safe, sustainable, healthy and fair. We do this by pushing for legislative change through national campaigns, community education, services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

About Co-op Insurance

Co-op Insurance is a UK-based general insurer that operates principally within the personal lines segments of the motor and home insurance markets. The Co op Insurance underwrites the majority of business written, supplemented with some small lines of business where The Co op Insurance acts as a distributor or has a 100% reinsurance arrangement in place.

With more than 1.18m customers, The Co op Insurance is committed to ‘Doing the Right Thing’ and always strives to treat customers and members fairly. The Co op Insurance pioneered the way in lowering the insurance premiums of young drivers as the first major insurer to launch a pay how you drive telematics insurance product for young drivers in 2011. Since launching the scheme, The Co op Insurance has saved its young drivers more than £7.2 million in their first year of driving.

About NFCC

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) provides clear, professional leadership while representing the wider sector on matters such as professional standards, operational guidance, research and sharing best practice. The NFCC also leads and delivers key national workstreams through its Coordination Committees and aims to drive improvement and development across UK Fire and Rescue Services, while supporting strong leadership.

About NPCC

The NPCC brings police forces in the UK together to help policing coordinate operations, reform, improve and provide value for money. Some of the biggest threats to public safety are national and international. We have a collective strength by coordinating the operational response across forces. Crime is changing and so are citizens’ needs and expectations of policing. We’re constantly adapting and reforming to keep people safe. Public confidence and support is essential. We're always striving to improve the way we work and learn from when things go wrong to build people's confidence in us. It’s more important than ever that our service is efficient and effective, providing best value for money.

Early years educators are being encouraged to take part in a Beep Beep! Day by Brake, the road safety charity. The day, supported by Churchill Insurance, helps to teach children road safety basics and remind parents and drivers of their responsibility to help protect children when driving.

Childminders or nurseries can register to receive a free email resource pack with downloadable resources to run a great event, or buy one of Brake’s bumper resource packs including balloons, posters, stickers and certificates, a large road map and activity cards for £12.60 including postage. 26,000 tots across the UK were registered to take part in the first national Beep Beep! Day in March 2015. The next dates are 8 July and 25 November, during Road Safety Week. Early years educators can choose to run their event on one of these national days or at any other time of the year.

As part of the first national day on 18 March, Brake and Churchill Insurance urged drivers to ‘go 20’ and take more care in communities, as their latest survey puts the spotlight on irresponsible driving around schools and nurseries. Three in five parents (59%) reported witnessing speeding outside their child’s school or nursery in the past year, with the same number (60%) also reporting drivers pulling out or turning without looking properly.

Brake and Churchill’s survey of 1,000 parents of 5-11 year olds also found:

Half (47%) reported distracted driving, such as drivers on phones, around their child’s school.

Two thirds (65%) reported inconsiderate or illegal driving around their child’s school.

Three in 10 (30%) had witnessed children not being secured properly in child restraints.

Worryingly, there are indications that parents themselves could be part of the problem. A third (32%) admitted they don’t drive more safely, for instance by slowing down and looking more than usual, around schools and nurseries, and a quarter (24%) admitted they don’t even do so around their child’s own school or nursery. Three in five also admitted they don’t take more care around homes (62%) or shops (60%).

As well as teaching children aged two to seven road safety basics, Brake’s Beep Beep! Days raise awareness among parents and drivers about how they can keep kids safe. This year, Brake and Churchill are appealing to all drivers, including parents, to take responsibility for children’s safety, and help prevent the six child deaths and serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day [1].

In particular, drivers are being asked to stick to 20mph or below around schools, nurseries, homes and shops, to protect children and others on foot or bike.Find out aboutBrake’s GO 20 campaign.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said:“All children have the right to a healthy life, and to be able to play safely – rights that are universally enshrined in the UN convention on the rights of the child. And yet, in the UK, one of the most developed countries in the world, our children are often denied these rights because of the lethal danger posed by fast traffic and careless driving. That’s why, in a year when the UN is asking people across the world to help #SaveKidsLives on roads, we’re calling on UK drivers to take the lead in making roads safer for children – by going 20mph or less and taking more care in communities. As well as educating kids about road danger, we hope the Beep Beep! Day project will serve as an inspiration for parents and drivers to help reduce that danger.”

Gus Park, director ofChurchill Car Insurance, said: “We are very proud to be supporting Beep Beep! Day once again this year. Too many children die or are seriously injured on our roads each day. Beep Beep! Day is a great way of starting to educate young children on road safety, as well as raising awareness among drivers, including parents and grandparents, of the need to drive with extreme care when young children are about.”

In 2014, 15,000 children took part in a Beep Beep! Day. Brake encourages nurseries, playgroups, infant schools, children's centres and childminders to run the event on one of three dates – in 2015, these are 18 March, 8 July and 15 November – or on whatever day is best for them. Nurseries receive a free electronic pack with downloadable resources, or can buy a bumper hard-copy pack for £12.60 (inc VAT) to help them run road safety activities and promote road safety to parents and the community.

Beep Beep! Days involve activities such as creating a poster of hand prints saying 'We hold hands', experimenting with toy cars to learn the words stop and go, and singing road safety songs. Activities are designed to help children to start understanding road safety, and to emphasise to parents and other adults their responsibilities in protecting children. Sponsorship raised by children helps Brake provide support for families bereaved and injured by road crashes and run community road safety campaigns.

When your child starts to walk with you around your community, talk to them about how they must always hold your hand. If your child is likely to pull away from you, use safety reins or a wrist strap. Hold hands until your child is at least eight, or longer depending on their development.

Make sure they understand the meaning of stop, traffic, danger, look, listen, walk don't run, and other key words. Encourage your child's nursery or playgroup to teach road safety through a Beep Beep! Day. Your child's learning will be more effective if they are taught about road safety at school as well as at home.

These results, released today (Wednesday 18 March 2015), are from a survey of 1,000 parents of children aged 5-11, conducted by independent survey company Surveygoo in March 2015.

Q1. Do you drive more safely (e.g. slowing down and looking around more) around the following? (tick all that apply)

Your own child’s school or nursery – 76%

Other schools and nurseries – 68%

Leisure facilities (e.g. parks, playgrounds, sports facilities) – 50%

Shops – 40%

Homes – 38%

None of the above – 15%

Q2. Have you witnessed any of the following bad driving behaviour around your child(ren)’s school or nursery in the past year? (tick all that apply)

Speeding – 59%

Pulling out/turning without looking properly – 60%

Inconsiderate/illegal parking – 65%

Road rage – 33%

Distracted driving (e.g. on phones) – 47%

Children not belted up properly in child restraints – 30%

None of the above – 11%

Brake

Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day, make streets and communities safer for everyone, and care for families bereaved and injured in road crashes. Brake promotes road safety awareness, safe and sustainable road use, and effective road safety policies. We do this through national campaigns, community education, services for road safety professionals and employers, and by coordinating the UK's flagship road safety event every November, Road Safety Week. Brake is a national, government-funded provider of support to families and individuals devastated by road death and serious injury, including through a helpline and support packs.

Brake was founded in the UK in 1995, and now has domestic operations in the UK and New Zealand, and works globally to promote action on road safety.

Road crashes are not accidents; they are devastating and preventable events, not chance mishaps. Calling them accidents undermines work to make roads safer, and can cause insult to families whose lives have been torn apart by needless casualties.

Churchill

Founded in 1989, Churchill is now one of the UK's leading providers of general insurance, offering car, home, travel and pet insurance cover over the phone or on-line.

Churchill general insurance policies are underwritten by UK Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England No 1179980. UK Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Churchill and UK Insurance Limited are both part of Direct Line Insurance Group plc. Customers can find out more about Churchill products or get a quote by calling 0800 200300 or visiting www.churchill.com.

On 15 June 2016 over 25,000 children from schools across the UK walked for safer roads, to encourage drivers to GO 20 around schools, homes and shops to protect children and other cyclists and pedestrians. The event also promoted the benefits of walking and cycling, and raised awareness of the fact that in the UK every day four children are seriously hurt or killed while walking.

A big thank you to all the schools that took part, helping to teach pupils about road danger and the benefits of sustainable, active travel, promoting road safety to parents and drivers in the wider community, and raising valuable funds for Brake.

The children at St John the Baptist C of E Primary School in Penistone had lots of fun showing off their posters as they walked around the local village. A local councillor and staff from their local Tesco store also joined them, encouraging drivers to slow down and supporting their message of not driving to school. Check them out in action in our 2016 video.

Pupils and parents from St John’s C of E Primary School in Harrow, London, joined forces to campaign for safer roads in their community. The children made their own placards and raised awareness in their local community, encouraging drivers to slow down. Teachers said they found it a really positive experience, bringing the school communities together to help raise awareness of road safety. Fantastically, alongside all of their hard work they raised more than £1000 for Brake!

Brake’s mascot Zak the Zebra joined more than 300 children from Neilston Primary School in Scotland. They learned about how to be safe on their walk before meeting up with another school and holding a mini road show. A local police officer talked about the importance of road safety and school principal teacher Jane McDermott said “Watching the children out in the village gives a great feeling of togetherness and community as well as promoting the importance of road safety.

At St Augustine’s Academy, Bedfordshire, in partnership with Dunstable Town Council, the children played road safety games and discussed how to be safe when crossing the road. They then created their own posters and used these, along with Brake’s, to take to the streets during a long two-mile walk to raise awareness of road safety in their local community. The children enjoyed using their posters to communicate important messages about slowing down to drivers and the young people who participated on the walk continued to learn about road safety at Junior Wardens - an after school programme.

Lots of laughs and fun was had at the 11th Walsall Rainbows in West Midlands. The girls really enjoyed learning about road safety all term and completed their road safety badge. They also made posters which they showed their parents and told them the importance of being safe on the roads. They loved getting their stickers for completing the walk and found the resources really informative.

River Beach Primary School didn’t let the soggy weather dampen their walk as they met in the morning and all walked to school together, campaigning for drivers to slow down. They were met at the school gates by their teachers, congratulating them on their walk before dispersing into class to continue their school day.

400 children took part at Carnmoney Primary School in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, who managed to raise a wonderful £381.60! Alongside their walk around the community where they campaigned for safer roads, they held different road safety activities within class. They also had a poster colouring competition and the winner got theirs made into a placard to carry on their walk!

Barmston Village School went on their walk outside of their school gates so that the local community in Durham could notice them. They took their ‘slow down’ banners, having lots of fun spreading the message of being safe around roads. In class they made their own posters on the different issues surrounding road safety and the importance of drivers slowing down on their roads.

In Liverpool, over 1000 children took part in road safety activities which emphasised the importance of St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant and Junior School’s Giant Walk. School Council Representatives met and discussed ideas to raise awareness of road safety prior to the event. A competition was launched to design the best road safety poster; these posters were used on the day to encourage drivers in their community to slow down. The children also had lots of fun chanting and making their voices heard. They even had their parents out campaigning while they stood opposite the school with their own posters and banners and invited families to complete a ‘Family Road Safety Pledge’ to show how everyone works together to ensure their children’s safety.

Red Oaks Primary School in Wiltshire took what they’d learnt throughout the year on road safety and incorporated it into their walk. Alongside their lessons on road safety and discussion on how to be safe and be seen in assembly, they took to the streets to tell drivers to slow down. They also raised £209.92 to help continue Brake’s work.

Local police officers visited Gayton Junior School in Derby on their Giant Walk to help their 360 children cross the road. The children’s parents also joined in, helping to raise awareness of the importance of slowing down. In preparation for their walk, the children made informative posters and discussed road safety in class. They raised a fantastic £115.15 for Brake!

On Wednesday 26 June 2019, more than 100,000 children, aged 4-11, will put their best feet forward to promote road safety and the health and planet-saving benefits of walking. Supervised walks will take place at or around schools and nurseries, with children walking in a crocodile formation and holding hands to promote the importance of kids being able to walk without fear or threat from traffic.

Everyone who registers will receive a free action* pack full of posters, banners, lesson plans, assembly presentations and activities.We also have resources translated into the Welsh language.

*Pack subject to change.

Like you, Brake is passionate about the safety and welfare of children. We believe it's every child's right to be able to walk in their communities without fear of traffic and pollution. But to do this, we need to make sure their journeys to school, home and shops are safe. This project aims to inspire and engage children about the dangers they face and help Brake call on grown ups to make their streets safer. We can do this by having footpaths, cycle paths, safe places to cross, slow traffic and clean traffic. We believe these 5 messages are important so we can stop the 5 children who are being killed or hurt on our roads every single day!

Brake's Kids Walk also provides a fantastic opportunity to raise valuable funds for Brake. Take a look at Zak's fundraising page for lots of fun ideas on how your school can get involved. From running a Wear Your Stripes Day to baking delicious treats to sell to parents.

You could also run your Kids Walk as a sponsored walk using the sponsorship form in the action pack.

If you aren't able to fundraise, a donation to cover the cost of your resources would be greatly appreciated.

As a charity we rely heavily on fundraising and donations to aid our work in supporting road crash victims and campaigning for safer roads.

On 13 June 2018 over 120,000 kids from schools across the UK walked for safer roads and to help Brake call for footpaths, cycle paths, safe places to cross, slow traffic and clean traffic; five important road safety messages so we can stop the 5 children who are being killed or hurt on our roads every single day! The event also promoted the benefits of walking and cycling to school within their community.

A big thank you to all the schools that took part, helping to engage pupils with road safety and the benefits of sustainable, active travel, promoting road safety to parents and drivers in the wider community, and raising valuable funds for Brake.

See below for examples of what our star schools in 2018 did on the day. Follow @Brakecharity on Twitter and use #BrakesKidsWalk for more pictures.

More than 450 children from Penshurst Primary School walked around their community in Hessle, Hull. They held a school assembly the week before the walk, ensuring the kids were engaged with road safety. The pupils then made their own banners, including Kids Walk placards, to take on the walk along with the Brake posters from the action pack. Pupils from Hessle High School, Brake mascot Zak the Zebra and a safety officer from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service joined the walk and helped the children to campaign for safer roads. Their activities were captured by ITV Calendar and many local radio stations. The children also raised £1,000 for Brake through sponsorship.

Pupils at Arthur Bugler Primary School in Essex raised £1,200 for Brake by getting friends and family to sponsor them for their Kids Walk. The school used the template sponsorship form in their action pack to encourage parents to give generously and support Brake’s work supporting road crash victims and campaigning for safer roads. The children carried banners and posters from their action pack during the walk, to show residents the things they need to keep them safe near roads. Brake mascot Zak the Zebra visited the school after the event to thank the children.

Corby Borough Council’s rural pride officer Suzanne Preston helped the children at Rockingham Primary School run their Brake’s Kids Walk. She was joined by their local neighbourhood wardens to talk to the kids about road safety. They ran an assembly for the school, talking about the health and planet-saving benefits of walking. During the walk, the kids were encouraged to hold up their hand when they spotted a road safety object.

“Brake’s Kids Walk provided a great way for us to discuss road safety from a different perspective and we helped make it relevant to the children's local area.” – Suzanne Preston, rural pride officer, Corby Borough Council.

Around 300 pupils from The Castle Primary School walked in crocodile formation around the school grounds to raise awareness of road safety in Tiverton, Devon. Children had banners and posters as they called for safer roads, so they can walk in their communities without fear of traffic and pollution. The school featured on their local BBC Spotlight evening news programme and also raised £217.34 for Brake.

“We have really appreciated having the opportunity to join in with such a worthwhile campaign. Keeping our children safe is paramount and this includes road safety.” - Sue Palk, high-level teaching assistant, The Castle Primary School

Children at St Helen’s Catholic Primary School in Barry, Wales, made full use of the bilingual resources provided in the Kids Walk action pack. They proudly held up banners and posters in Welsh and English to make sure the whole community was aware of what they want to keep them safe. The children also made their own banners, calling on adults to keep them safe when using roads. Posters about the benefits of walking to school were displayed around the school. While on the walk, children talked to residents about why they were taking part and the importance of road safety.

In Wrexham, St Christopher’s School held a Wear Your Stripes Day to raise funds for Brake. They also made traffic light biscuits and stripy cupcakes and collected sponsorship money for their walk, raising a fantastic £157 for Brake. In class they completed the action pack resources, to ensure that they were focused on road safety issues during their walk and made zebra masks to wear to look like our mascot Zak the Zebra.

The children and staff at Salisbury Primary School in London dressed in their stripiest clothes as they combined their Kids Walk with a Wear Your Stripes Day. The pupils designed their own banners and posters during classroom activities, before taking them on their walk to call for safer streets. They walked around the community close to their school to promote road safety measures such as 20mph speed limits and safe crossing places. Their fundraising activities helped raise £150 for Brake.

Pupils from St Colm’s High School in Draperstown, Northern Ireland, teamed up with their local primary school – St Mary’s Primary School – to help them with their walk. Pupils involved in both schools used the resources from the action pack to help inspire other pupils and the local community about what they want to see to make their roads safer. They organised a walk around the local town, displaying banners to help raise awareness of important road safety issues. They even helped out the community by carrying out a clean-up of the town, litter picking as they went on their walk and the school donated £50 to Brake.

PC Michael Goldie, school campus officer for Police Scotland, took Brake mascot Zak the Zebra on a tour of primary schools in East Renfrewshire. He visited Hillview, Neilston, St John’s, St Mark’s, and St Thomas’ primary schools, ensuring that more than 1,000 kids put their best feet forward to promote road safety and the health benefits of walking. PC Goldie delivered a number of assemblies before the pupils made their own posters and banners to take on the walk. Parents, volunteers from the local high school, school crossing officers from East Renfrewshire Council and emergency services joined the schools on their walks through the community. They walked to their local park to celebrate their achievements, where the police and fire services talked to the kids about road safety.

In Serrekunda, The Gambia, Save Life Gambia partnered with Maarif Turkish International School, the police and the WHO Country Office to run Brake’s Kids Walk. Parents joined the schoolchildren on their walk around the community, engaging them with road safety messages and calling for better safety measures to keep them safe from traffic. They printed out posters and banners from the online action pack and delivered an assembly, inspiring the children to talk more to adults about how they can keep them safe.

Follow us

Professionals

Every 30 seconds someone, somewhere in the world is killed in a road crash. Brake works to stop road deaths and injuries by campaigning for safer roads; supports people bereaved or injured in road crashes; and raises public awareness for sustainable transport. Registered charity No. 1093244